FCPS schools hosting religious events?

[Anonymous]

Why can't your school go to Jamestown?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why can't your school go to Jamestown?

Colonial Day and trips to Jamestown were banned by the last school board because the founding fathers are all evil colonizers, and celebrating America by doing tin punch artwork and churning butter is celebrating colonizers and white privilege, and therefore, racist, or some sort of FCPS school board political activism.

There was a whole to do about it a few years ago.

It doesn't make sense, but here we are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've DEFINITELY seen cultural events and markets for Christmas events and holiday shopping.

Christmas markets are secular and have zero to do with the Christian part of Christmas.

They are European secular culture events.

Perfect, so you'll agree with what I just posted about the meal being a cultural event.

This even advertises prayer rooms and praying, which makes it a FCPS promoted religious event, which is illegal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've DEFINITELY seen cultural events and markets for Christmas events and holiday shopping.

Christmas markets are secular and have zero to do with the Christian part of Christmas.

They are European secular culture events.

From this perspective, so is an iftaar. Although I'm not Muslim, I've been welcomed to and included in on some iftaar celebrations....which in a secular sense can be called "having dinner".

Sure.

But then FCPS crossed the line by adding prayer rooms.

If the Christmas Market included a Rosary advertised by FCPS, then it would be become a religious event.

Can't you see the difference?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why can't your school go to Jamestown?

Colonial Day and trips to Jamestown were banned by the last school board because the founding fathers are all evil colonizers, and celebrating America by doing tin punch artwork and churning butter is celebrating colonizers and white privilege, and therefore, racist, or some sort of FCPS school board political activism.

There was a whole to do about it a few years ago.

It doesn't make sense, but here we are.

It wasn't the school board, it was parents that complained.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've DEFINITELY seen cultural events and markets for Christmas events and holiday shopping.

Christmas markets are secular and have zero to do with the Christian part of Christmas.

They are European secular culture events.

From this perspective, so is an iftaar. Although I'm not Muslim, I've been welcomed to and included in on some iftaar celebrations....which in a secular sense can be called "having dinner".

Sure.

But then FCPS crossed the line by adding prayer rooms.

If the Christmas Market included a Rosary advertised by FCPS, then it would be become a religious event.

Can't you see the difference?

I see that FCPS recognizes that people will want to pray before this cultural event and is providing them space to do so, instead of leaving them to wander off and find an empty room. They are not saying "everyone must pray in this room".

I don't understand why you're so outraged about this, PP. What the hell?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've DEFINITELY seen cultural events and markets for Christmas events and holiday shopping.

Christmas markets are secular and have zero to do with the Christian part of Christmas.

They are European secular culture events.

Except that they have CHRISTMAS, which is a CHRISTIAN HOLIDAY in the name. So they are, in fact, CHRISTIAN. Geez, the hypocrisy here!!!

[Anonymous]

I see that FCPS recognizes that people will want to pray before this cultural event and is providing them space to do so, instead of leaving them to wander off and find an empty room. They are not saying "everyone must pray in this room".

You can pray anywhere. You don't need a prayer room.

[Anonymous]

I agree, people like OP are the ones that have caused the school system to have to shut down anything even remotely religious or cultural and she doesn't even realize it!!

Our school doesn't even do multi-cultural night anymore because of people like OP complaining about religious dances at a multi-cultural event. It's outrageous. Let's celebrate people's culture. Yes, sometimes celebrating someone's culture includes something related to their religion. That's okay! It's also an optional event, it's not like someone is saying "It's Ramadan, nobody in the entire school can eat today, you must come break fast with us after sunset", they're just saying "hey, we are doing this to celebrate the Muslim population in our community and we invite you to join us and learn about our culture".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I see that FCPS recognizes that people will want to pray before this cultural event and is providing them space to do so, instead of leaving them to wander off and find an empty room. They are not saying "everyone must pray in this room".

You can pray anywhere. You don't need a prayer room.

THEY DON'T WANT PEOPLE WANDERING AROUND THE SCHOOL YOU IDIOT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why can't your school go to Jamestown?

Colonial Day and trips to Jamestown were banned by the last school board because the founding fathers are all evil colonizers, and celebrating America by doing tin punch artwork and churning butter is celebrating colonizers and white privilege, and therefore, racist, or some sort of FCPS school board political activism.

There was a whole to do about it a few years ago.

It doesn't make sense, but here we are.

Please share a link saying that Jamestown trips are banned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Years ago at a talent show, our FCPS ES unwittingly allowed a religious dance that celebrated a deity, complete with a narrator explaining significance. I can only imagine the fallout had I sent my church’s lyrical dance troupe to perform to a Christian song. Or having a DC sing Ave Maria. Wouldn’t have even tried.

Oh please. FCPS choruses regularly sing religious songs at concerts.

Our choruses, bands, and orchestra concerts have not played any Christmas songs in the last 8 years, despite concerts held in the month of December. They didn’t even play a Jingle Bells type song—-completely void of anything remotely religious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree, people like OP are the ones that have caused the school system to have to shut down anything even remotely religious or cultural and she doesn't even realize it!!

Our school doesn't even do multi-cultural night anymore because of people like OP complaining about religious dances at a multi-cultural event. It's outrageous. Let's celebrate people's culture. Yes, sometimes celebrating someone's culture includes something related to their religion. That's okay! It's also an optional event, it's not like someone is saying "It's Ramadan, nobody in the entire school can eat today, you must come break fast with us after sunset", they're just saying "hey, we are doing this to celebrate the Muslim population in our community and we invite you to join us and learn about our culture".

But, the problem has become that only the minority factions are showcased.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Received the following email from our school:

Dear Parents/Guardians,

As we are in the holy month of Ramadan, we invite you to join us for a special community Iftar dinner. This event is a celebration of unity, cultural respect, and the values that make us ethical global citizens. We aim to create an inclusive space where we can share food, fellowship, and learn from each other's diverse backgrounds. Please join us for an evening of warmth and connection as we break our fast together. This is a wonderful opportunity to build community, foster mutual understanding, and appreciate the rich tapestry of cultures within our school family.

Date: Thursday, March 27th

Time: 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM

Location: Frost Middle School – Lecture Hall

A location for Magrib prayer will be provided for those who want to participate.

To make our Iftar dinner a success, we are asking each family interested in joining to:

contribute a dish to share and indicate the exact dish on the form below. This will help us ensure we have a delicious variety of foods and avoid duplicates.
list the main ingredients of your dish to help with allergy awareness and to celebrate the different ingredients used in our cultures.

Please complete this form if you plan to attend. We look forward to seeing you there!

I'm curious if such events are allowed and if any such events are hosted in other schools. I thought FCPS public schools are supposed to be secular no? They haven't hosted any such events for other faiths.

This is not appropriate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Strongly disapprove of public resources being used for a religious celebration.

I'm going to complain the next time my kid has to sing a Christmas song and a Hanukkah song at the winter chorus performance. Strongly disapprove of public resources being used for a religious celebration.

Our elementary school chorus has always been religion-neutral, even for the winter chorus. Absolutely no song even remotely related to Christmas. Most chorus songs are from some indigenous people in Africa or South America.

+1
The pendulum swung a different way many years ago and after a decade of attending band and chorus concerts, I have not heard one Christian song at Christmas or any other time.